Thursday, February 28, 2013

It had been a LONG time since we'd seen Emma and Miss Megan, so we were really happy to meet them at the Mall of America today for a fish-themed day. We enjoyed sushi at CRAVE and visited the MN Sea Life Aquarium. Justin was quite the trooper, as we did this all over his regular naptime.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

It's that time again. Some of our wooden bowls are starting to show signs of being too dry (thanks, Minnesota winters...), so while Justin took an EPIC 3 hour nap, Alex spent a good portion of the afternoon polishing and rehydrating them with our beeswax polish mixture. Things always shine so when they're newly-polished!

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Justin has been working so hard on potty-training that he earned a REALLY BIG prize! He got to take the family to Choo Choo Bob's train store and pick out a new train for his set.

On the one hand I can believe we haven't been to this store yet (I have a five year old girl who had no prior interest in trains), but on the other, I can't! It's amazing! They have electric train tracks all set up and running at the front of the store, tons of merchandise, and eight or nine train tables set up for kids to play with at the back. Justin was in train-heaven!

He ended picking out a Brio dump truck with removable cargo. As a side note, I wish they carried more traditional BRIO trains and less of the character Thomas/Chuggington/etc ones.

Alex had a hard time picking out something that was 1) in her price range ($5 or less) and 2) interesting to her in the least. She settled on some of those sponges stuffed into capsules which burst open when put into water. Dave left with dreams of unearthing his old electric train set and playing with it. They were all happy.

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Alex and I were so excited to attend her first professional Theatrical event- Shen Yun - Classical Chinese Ballet. It was a perfect first-event for her! The music was beautiful, the dances were short (7-10 min apiece), and the costumes were absolutely stunning! She loved every minute (except for the vocal soloists....those she could do without ;-)

It was a really beautiful performance, with lots and lots of Chinese history and folklore woven in and out. I found that if I gave Alex a quick synopsis of what each dance was about (which I found in the playbook), she was really happy absorbing it without constant questions. **Ahem...I wish I could say the same for the 60 year old grandmother behind me....talk much during the ballet?!?**

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

We have had a week off school. Normally this would be a great break, but following our ski vacation, I'm CRAVING some normal scheduling! After a trip to the library and grocery store this morning and an entire afternoon cooped up inside, we hit the streets.

When we were gone we missed a big snowstorm/melt/re-freeze....so our driveway looks like an iceberg. While the kids splashed in an impromptu puddle that appeared, I went to work with the ice chipper, trying to make a dent. Then I decided splashing would be more fun as well.

Alex didn't limit her jumping to puddles.... she would climb to the top of our utility box and launch herself off of it into the snow. Weirdo.

I am so incredibly lucky to have these two wonderful kiddos in my life.

They adore each other.

Even when 'forced' to sleep in the same bed (note that this was the only night we successfully 'co-slept'. All other nights it was separate areas for all.... too much giggling, poking and all-around shenanigan-having!)

Sunday, February 10, 2013

So, technically Friday was Papa Bob's birthday (he got some nice fluffy Utah powder as a present), but we all arrived a little late for celebration. We postponed until this evening-- Alex and Justin were only too happy to help blow out the candles on the cake!

This morning we all hit the slopes-- Alex had a day at the Kinderbird camp (where she moved up a level during her first run down the mountain). Justin stayed in and played with Grandma Mary and his new fleet of construction equipment.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Well, we packed up four pairs of skis, four helmets, and about twenty-thousand pairs of woolies, and we took off for our annual Snowbird trip. This is Alex's fourth year on skis and Justin's first! We got to the airport early enough to play at the indoor playspace for a while before getting on the plane. (Note that both children are in their Snowbird apparel..... Alex said that if they got lost, people would know where to send them!)

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Since potty-training has started, we've been hanging out at home. Justin has rediscovered his love of playdough!

Potty-training update: Everything's going really well. J is wearing 'big guy underpants' the majority of the day (pull-ups for car trips still....) and staying high and dry! Woo Hoo to the foreseeable diaper-less future!